China Likely Innocent of Facebook Nato Scam - Expert

A security expert has suggested that suspicions China masterminded a recent Facebook cyber spying attempt on Nato may be misguided.

Adding to comments made in a previous interview with the International Business Times UK, F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen clarified that the US's reported suspicions were premature.

"I don't see what evidence they have to prove this was done by the Chinese. Many well-known people have problems with fake Facebook accounts. We don't really know what's the story here," said Hypponen speaking to the IBTimes UK.

"It's possible that this was the work of the Chinese, but this wouldn't be typical for them. We see much more targeted attacks done with spoofed emails."

Suspicions again fell on China on Sunday after The Observer reported that cyber criminals had created a number of fake Facebook accounts masquerading as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Admiral James Stavridis.

The fake accounts attempted to trick Nato employees into revealing personal details about Stavridis and his friends and family. Though Nato had not responded to the IBTimes UK's requests for comment, citing a number of unnamed sources, The Observer reported that Nato was aware of the attack and suspected China as being responsible.

Theoretically, if the information was valid, the Facebook cyber scam could be the first step in an advanced persistent threat (APT) assault on Nato's networks - with the information gained potentially granting the hackers clues that could help them guess Stavridis's Nato passwords.

Hypponen's comments follow up his previous suggestion that every country, not just China, was involved in some form of cyber espionage. The sentiment was subsequently mirrored by Sophos security expert Graham Cluley.

"Yes, I'm sure most countries around the world are using a variety of tricks to steal information," said Cluley on the attack.